Page 45 of Save Your Breath

“Ah! There you two are. Okay, I have our location picked out. Isabella dropped the hint to some local shutterbugs who are no doubt already on their way. I told James and Hunter to not let them too close, but to also make sure they had a good shot.” She paused, shaking her head. “This is so weird. Usually, we’re doing everything we can to keep these punksawayfrom you.”

“Well, if it’ll get the attention off Garrett the Ferret, it’ll be worth it,” I said, standing. “Tell us what to do, Coach.”

• • •

Thirty minutes later, Aleks was on the beach waiting for me.

I stared at him from my balcony, watching how he dove into the water and swam out a bit before coming back in. He was dripping wet as he slugged up the sandy beach, and then he fell back into the luxurious day bed and crossed his legs, folding his hands behind his head.

He was in position.

“They’re already snapping pics of him,” Marci confirmed as she peeked into my room from the hallway. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I muttered.

I was in my favorite bikini, a bright yellow, strappy little number that I mostly wore by my private pool in California because it was tiny and I loved the tan lines it would leave behind after a day in the sun. But as I followed Marci down the marblestaircase, I found myself wrapping my white cover-up tightly around me.

I loved my body. I was proud of my sexuality and found myself embracing it more and more with every year I grew older — much to my father’s dismay, I was sure.

I also didn’t care about the paparazzi. Hell, I’d rather them have a flattering picture of me in a bikini I felt stellar in than see the pictures they loved to post of me with a mouth full of food or face screwed up mid-sneeze.

But this was Aleks.

And the thought of havinghiseyes on my body was enough to make me tremble before it even happened.

“I’m right here if you need me,” Marci said, stopping in the living room and fussing with my hair a bit — as if the wind on the beach wasn’t about to destroy it, anyway. “Remember, just act natural. And you don’t have to stay out there too long. I think we’ll sell it even more if you both pretend like you spot the paps and he kind of ushers you inside to get away from them.”

I nodded, giving her an awkward thumbs up. “Got it.”

“Have fun,” she said with a salacious smile.

I didn’t even entertain that with a response. Instead, I turned and marched out to the beach, slowing my gait the closer I got to where Aleks was sprawled out on the day bed.

He was tapping his foot to some reggae music playing from a Bluetooth speaker, humming along like he didn’t have a care in the world. Water sluiced down his body as he dried beneath the sun, sand sticking to his feet and the bottom of his calves.

I tried not to notice how his navy-blue board shorts stuck to his thick thighs — along with another thick part of him — but the closer I got, the more it drew my attention. It was impossiblenotto look with the water dripping down the middle of his abs and sliding along the hem of those shorts.

It was like a hundred neon arrows pointing down to the promised land.

Sweat beaded on the back of my neck and slid along my spine, and not from the July heat.

Get it together, Mia.

Sipping in a deep inhale, I let it out slowly, plastering a fake smile on my face as I sidled up next to him and stood so I was blocking the sun.

Show time.

“Need me to rub some sunscreen on your back, sweetie?” I teased, knowing the paparazzi couldn’t hear us. But even though they were far away and out of sight, I swore I could hear their shutters clicking.

Aleks must have had his eyes closed under those dark sunglasses because he lifted his head and turned toward me with that sexy smirk he wore so effortlessly.

The moment he saw me, that smile slipped.

I shrugged off my cover-up and tossed it onto the day bed next to him, just like we’d talked about when we went through the plan with Marci. And even though it was scorching hot, a wave of goosebumps paraded over my skin the moment I didn’t have that cover-up shielding me any longer.

Next, I was supposed to say something, we were both supposed to laugh, and then I would bend down and plant one on him.

But when Aleks slid his sunglasses down his nose, his eyes dilating at the sight of me — all those plans flew out of my head, and I was rooted in place.